With the energy of his 19 years, Félix Polanco Lugo arrived at the Hermanos Díaz oil refinery; half a century later he continues as the boilermaker who gladly does whatever needs to be done, just like Luis Angel Ferrer Lahera, also with a fifty-year history, particularly in the laboratory of that Santiago industry.
For them today were the reverence, the applause, the bouquet of flowers, the gifts, the celebration in advance for the day of the oil worker in Cuba, which is celebrated every July 1.
Along with them, others who have accumulated a long history and ample merits in the tasks of crude oil refining were also recognized: 34 employees of that center with a total work history of 40 years, and six with twenty – the latter awarded with the Ñico López distinction, which honors the name of the martyr of the Energy and Mining sector.
A special moment of this day of entertainment was when the Jesús Menéndez Medal was placed on the chest of Rafael Rizo Galán, general secretary of the refinery’s union bureau, awarded by the Central Workers of Cuba for highlighting relevant and valuable labor merits. contributions.
This Saturday was undoubtedly a moving day for the oil workers, whose first action was the laying of a floral offering at the eternal resting place of Emiliano and Carlos Manuel Díaz, the Díaz brothers, in the Pantheon of the Fallen in the Insurgency, in the Santa Ifigenia heritage cemetery.
Already at the Vilma Espín Memorial, where the recognition ceremony took place, entertained by the young claniretist Sucel Cardoso Medina, emotions rose in tone when family members of the honorees were the ones who delivered the stimuli.
“Thank you for such a peculiar way,” said Niris Vázquez Frómeta, one of those who has accumulated 40 years of work experience, while Rafael Rizo, with his feelings on the surface, dedicated the Lázaro Peña Medal to his father, founder of the refinery, guide and example, as well as his “girls” of battles and victories of the union bureau.
Irene Barbado Lucio, member of the Central Committee of the Party and director of the Díaz Brothers, and Yissell Menéndez Despaigne, general secretary of the Energy and Mines Union in the province of Santiago de Cuba, dedicated glowing words to the honorees, whom they described as superheroes of flesh and blood, examples, and inspiration.
